Leopard walks into trap in Aarey Colony

On Thursday evening, a leopard got trapped in the cage set by Thane Forest Department at Adarsh Nagar in Aarey Colony, where a boy was killed in a leopard attack on January 26.

Speaking to MiD DAY, Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) Sudhir Padwale said, “On Thursday evening, a leopard walked into the cage set up near Adarsh Nagar in Aarey Colony. It is very difficult to say whether the animal that got trapped in the cage is the one that had attacked the boy.”

A source from Thane Forest Department told MiD DAY that the trapped animal will be handed over to the rescue team from Sanjay Gandhi National Park which will take the animal to the rescue and rehabilitation center for further examination.

“The animal will be taken to SGNP where the official will check the animal and will also check if there us a chip in its body. If there is a chip in its body then we will be able to get details about its earlier trappings if any,” the official added

The attack

On the evening of January 26, at around 5.30-6 pm in the evening, Saurav Thakur Yadav and Arihant Yadav had gone to answer nature’s call near their residence in Aarey Colony,

A leopard appeared from the bushes and took away Saurav. Arihant got scared and ran to his home to alert his parents who in turn took other villagers to search for Saurav.

Later, the villagers started the search operation and found the body of the boy lying in a pool of blood around 800 meters away from Adarsh Nagar. By the time he was admitted to Bhagwati Hospital, he was declared dead.

This was the third leopard attack at Aarey colony this year. On January 1, a boy staying at Maroshipada in Aarey was attacked when he had gone to answer nature’s call. The boy was lucky enough and survived the attack. On January 6, a woman was attacked at Khambyacha Pada when she had gone to fetch water in the evening.